Flight Ease - what do "economy," "premium economy," etc. mean?

[lupaglupa]

This is my first time using Flight Ease and I'm stumbling a bit trying to understand how the ticket level options, such as economy, premium economy, etc., work. Can anyone help? I apologize if this has been covered before.

 

I can see a clear price difference between the flexible and restricted fares. That's clear. I do see some cost differences when I adjust the ticket from, for instance, economy to premium economy, but I cannot see any information as to what that means in terms of the benefits I get on the ticket. For instance, I know some higher ticket categories include baggage. But when I change the category on Flight Ease the baggage information doesn't change, in that it still just sends me to the airline website. The terms Flight Ease uses don't equal the terms the airlines use so I don't know exactly what category ticket I'm actually reserving. 

 

Is there a way to see this information prior to booking? Would I be better off to call Flight Ease at the 800 number? As I said, I have always booked our flights independently before and have no experience with this system. Thanks in advance for any help you can give. 

[canadianbear]

I think economy & premium economy is the premium has a bit extra leg room and closer to the front of the plane.  (Not positive though).  We have only used Flight Ease once before & I looked on Google to find which flights/airlines I wanted then called Flight Ease to see if pricing was same or not. 
 

I’m not much help but hopefully others will chime in with their experience/opinions. 

 

[CruiserBruce]

The names can be tricky...something called premium economy, or economy plus, or similar, on a domestic flight is simply more leg room, usually. On an international flight, it can be a somewhat bigger seat, more leg room and better food choices. Depends on the airline...maybe even more recline in the seat.

[trtog7]

It is the level of seating in the plane.

From economy .....tight seating and very little perks... to premium ...roomier seats and a few more perks... to Business Class ... lots of room and lots of perks.

Perks can be luggage, quality of food, early boarding etc.

[Bill B]

Different levels of torture.

[highscar]

Always paid extra for premium economy, but  annoying to know people beside me and close to me did not pay extra.  I chose my seat.  Take your chance and as the plane fills you will likely get premium. 

 

 

[rafinmd]

If you can get potential flight numbers out of Flight Ease, go to seatguru.com and  you can pull up a seating chart for your plane.  On longer flights Premium Economy (each airline has it's own term) will likely have about an extra 5 inches of legrom and perhaps a few other perks.  Long haul business class typically has a seat that can recline enough to almost serve as a bed.

 

Roy

[Mary229]

The points guy does a good job of reviewing the different classes of seats.  It varies widely airline to airline and by the type of jet.  The only worthy experience I have had with premium economy is with Air France international otherwise it was a waste of money.  Go to points guy website and watch the videos c

[kazu]

premium economy means different things on different airlines and itineraries.  Here with Air Canada, domestic premium economy is just a bit more leg room while on International flights, it’s usually a whole lot more.

 

I would check the air lines website for the flights you are interested in and see what it entails for that particular flight.  That way you won’t be disappointed.  For an International flight, premium economy is usually well worth it and Flight Ease normally has a much better price - generally speaking.

[lupaglupa]

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know if there is a way on Flight Ease to see which benefits any particular airline has? I know when I book at the airline's website I can see exactly what each pricing level means - better seats, legroom, food etc. But I can't seem to see that on Flight Ease. I'm just trusting that the higher level actually means something. 

[kazu]

2 minutes ago, lupaglupa said:

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know if there is a way on Flight Ease to see which benefits any particular airline has? I know when I book at the airline's website I can see exactly what each pricing level means - better seats, legroom, food etc. But I can't seem to see that on Flight Ease. I'm just trusting that the higher level actually means something. 

 

I don’t believe there is.  At least, if there is I haven’t found it.

[lupaglupa]

Has anyone gotten service through the 800 number? 

[POA1]

8 minutes ago, lupaglupa said:

Does anyone know if there is a way on Flight Ease to see which benefits any particular airline has? I know when I book at the airline's website I can see exactly what each pricing level means - better seats, legroom, food etc

If you use Flight Ease or any other multi brand flight engine, you have to refer to the individual airline's site for the perks associated with the "plus" fare.

[POA1]

7 minutes ago, lupaglupa said:

Has anyone gotten service through the 800 number? 

Remember that it's New Year's Day.

[lupaglupa]

Just now, POA1 said:

Remember that it's New Year's Day.

I didn't try today! But I wasn't sure if they had the information either. Often it seems the "price" of a discount is losing control over things you might rather pay to be sure of. 

[Torquer]

You definitely need to do your own research on this, and it takes time, but can be well worth it.  As was suggested by others, go to the specific airline you are thinking of booking and see what they say about the different classes; then check out Seat Guru, and the Points Guy websites.  Sometimes, you can get very close to the business class experience for the price of premium economy; SAS airlines comes to mind.  In other cases, you will be paying a lot extra and not get much for your money.

[sunviking90]

I would go to the airline’s own website and know the type of aircraft before doing so. Then you can make a clearer decision. On a wide body (3 class) jet premium economy will be similar to business class on a narrow body domestic aircraft. Generally the wide bodies are used for international, but some airlines use them for domestic flights. We have often chosen a connecting flight from Florida on Air Canada if both legs are on a wide body so we can book premium economy. It’s exactly the same as business class on a AC 737, and usually a better price. 

[POA1]

If you play around with a dummy booking on Flight Ease, you'll see the airlines, aircraft, etc. As long as you are outside of final payment and booking flexible fares, you can change things to your heart's content.

 

I'm assuming you have made the deposit on the cruise. Otherwise, you can't do much.

[Tampa Girl]

30 minutes ago, lupaglupa said:

I didn't try today! But I wasn't sure if they had the information either. Often it seems the "price" of a discount is losing control over things you might rather pay to be sure of. 

 

The discount provided by HAL is dependent upon the seat class that you want to  purchase.  Your questions need to be answered by the airline, not HAL.  HAL can't  quote  you a price until  you decide what class you wish to fly.  The posts herein have given you the general differences, but you need to check the various sites and the airline, in particular to make a decision as to what you can comfortably book.

[zgscl]

The difference between economy and premium economy varies drastically depending on the airline and aircraft you are on. 
 

On domestic US, Canada, Caribbean & international operated by a narrow body aircraft the difference is basically a couple inches of more legroom in premium (economy plus, comfort plus, etc). 
 

On long haul international flights the difference can be more substantial. Delta has Premium Select which has larger seats (a bit wider and more legroom). I believe AA/United/Air Canada are similar. If you’re traveling on a foreign carrier such as Singapore Airlines, Lufthansa, Emirates, Etc) you probably will have a more elevated experience than what our North American carriers offer. 

Definitely check the airlines you are looking at for what their premium product is on the specific route (AND aircraft) you are flying. Sometimes domestic routes are assigned an international wide body aircraft and this can get you a much better economy plus seat than one on a 737/a320/757. Some international routes, particularly the Caribbean, Central & parts of South America are still on narrow body airplanes so the seats will be the same as on domestic flights. 
 

I generally find flight ease has savings on international flights. On domestic it is the same or in some cases more expensive. I don’t usually use them unless there is either a significant savings, or it is a very expensive or flight on a carrier I would not travel on so that I can take advantage of paying for air at final payment. Otherwise I prefer to have the control over the ticket and be able to work directly with the airline. 
 

A great resource for flight information is flyertalk.com which is basically cruise critic for hotels & airlines and the folks over there will have tons of information and post on all sorts of airlines 
 

 

[sambamama]

Premium economy is a nice compromise from  business class when flying internationally or perhaps cross country. Read reviews but not just on the points guy. Google it and you can find reviews on Youtube. Look for current ones. Check with each airline to see what each provide. I flew Air France Premium Economy from JFK to Paris and Paris to Bangkok and hated it. AF doesn't provide individual air nozzles, and their planes are too hot, the seats slide forward instead of reclining, so I couldn't sleep in them. Never again! Research is your friend. Also, each class differs with meals and baggage, cancellation, and picking your seat. 

[IAcruising]

5 hours ago, lupaglupa said:

Thanks for the replies. Does anyone know if there is a way on Flight Ease to see which benefits any particular airline has? I know when I book at the airline's website I can see exactly what each pricing level means - better seats, legroom, food etc. But I can't seem to see that on Flight Ease. I'm just trusting that the higher level actually means something. 

 

You are answering your own questions. You choose the specific airline and flight on Flight Ease. Go to that airline and flight and see what seats Flight Ease are talking about. You can tell by the price. Flight Ease will be very similar to the airline website.

 

 

[cruiseaholic78]

Here is an example, KLM used to offer Economy, Economy Comfort and Business. With an introduction to newer seating they now also offer Premium Comfort this is a totally different experience than Economy comfort which only offered a little extra legroom and recline.

 

It is really an offer which is also pricewise and comfort somewhere in the middle of the two. Singapore Airlines and Air New Zealand among others also offer a similar product and to us all of these are a really good alternative if business is not in your budget. As others have said check on F.E. what you would like to book and see on the airline what they are really offering.

 

https://www.klm.co.uk/information/travel-class-extra-options/premium-comfort-class-seats
 

 

 

[lupaglupa]

As it happens, Premium Comfort is what I hope I'm getting on our KLM flight. I used the method @IAcruising suggested and compared the prices between the sites. I may call Flight Ease to confirm. 

[*Miss G*]

I booked a KLM flight, seven months ago, within a few days of having to be overseas.  I had to go with economy as my choices were very limited within that timeframe.  The seat I chose, when booking, was on a specific aircraft.  At the last moment they subbed a Dreamliner (787-9) and my economy seat was fantastic.  It was like night and day compared to the older model I was originally booked on.  Like others have said, the aircraft model is important, so don’t forget to take note of that when choosing flights.